Dirigible balloon



J. W. GILBERT.

DIRIGIBLE BALLOON. APPLICATION FILED'JULY 25.1921.

1 26,726 P tented Aug. 22, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I Q m la,

J. w. GILBERT. DIRIGIBLE BALLOON.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 25.1921. 1 49 72 Patented Aug. 22, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. W. GILBERT. DlRIGlBLE BALLOON.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25.1921.

1,426,726. I P ntemg. 22, 1222.

. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

JESSE W. GILBERT, OF SALTNA, KANSAS.

DIBIGIBLE BALLOON.

aegan.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented r1ug.22, ices.

Application filed an 25, 1921. Seria1 racemes.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jnssn W. GILBERT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Salina, in the county of Saline and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvementsjn Dirigible Balloons; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates. to an improved dirigible balloon and one objectof the invention is to provide a balloon having improved construction inthe supporting bag and to further provide improved means for supplyinggas to the bag and means for drawing gas out of the bag and storing thegas in a storage receptacle until again to be used.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved constructionin the supporting bag whereby a beam extending longitudinally throughthe bag may have a gas passage formed therein through which the gas mayenter or leave the bag, a pipe being connected with the opening of thebeam and having branches, leading, one to the storage tank and the otherto a pump communicating with the tank.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved steering meansfor the dirigible balloon.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means forsuspending the car beneath the bag,.the car being suspended from the endportions of the beam which extends through the bag.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a View showing the improved d'irigible balloon in sideelevation.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the dirigible balloon.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view showing the car in top plan.

Figure 4: is a view showing the dirigible balloon in verticallongitudinal section.

Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse sec tional view taken along the line5-5 of Fig. 4.

Figure 6 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken along the line 66of Fig. 4.

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 77 of Fig.4.

Figure Sis a sectional view taken along the line 88 of Fig. 1.

This improved dirigible balloon is provided wit-ha car 1 and a gas-bag2. A beam 3 extends longitudinally through the bag and has its forwardand rear end portions extended beyond the ends of the bag. Annular seats4 are formed in the center beam 3 at proper points to receive clampingrings 5 which serve to securely clamp the end portions of the bag to thecenter beam. A netting 6 is provided about the gas bag and the endportions of the longitudinally extending strands of this netting areconnected.

portion of this beam, and extends from the rear end longitudinallythrough the beam to a point within the gas bag. It will thus be seenthat gas may enter or leave the bag through this opening.

The car 1 is beneath the bag and is provided with bolster means9 whichextend beneath the car and have their end portions extending beyond thesides of the car. 10 and 11 are connected with the end portions of thesebolsters 9 and extend upwardly in crossed relation and have their upperends connected with the yokes 12 which are loose- Hanger rods ly mountedupon the end portions of the beam in the seats 13. By having the yokes12 loose upon the end portions of the beam, the car will always hangproperly beneath the bag and by having the suspending rods 10 and 11extending upwardly in cr-ossed.

communicating with a pump 17 actuated from the motor 18 when a clutch ofa conventional construction and controlled by the lever 19'is in anoperative position. When the clutch is in an inoperative position, themotor can run without the pump being operated. A pipe 20 which isprovided a check the rear end of the center beam.

valve 20 and controlling valve 21 extends from the pump and is connectedwith the pipe 15 of the tank 14:. A pipe 22 is connected with thecoupling 15 at the junction of the pipes 20' and 15 and has its secondend portion communicating with the passage 8 which leads through therear end portion of the center beam 3. With the bag inflated, a reservesupply of gas will be placed in the cylinderv or tank 14. The valveswill be closed and the reserve supply of gas willbe confined in thecylinder. ,When it is desired to admit additional gas to the bag, it issimply necessary to open the valve of the pipe 15 and the gas can flowthrough the pipes 15 and 22 and through the passage 8 into the interiorof the gas bag. After a sufhcient quantity of gas has entered the bag,the valve of the pipe '15 will be closed. lWhen it is desired to reducethe amount of gas in the bag so that a landing can be made, the valve 21will be opened and the valve of the pipe 16 also opened. The clutch ofthe pump will be thrown into an operative position and the pump willdraw the gas throughthe pipes 22 and 20 and into the pump from which itwill be forced through the pipe 16 into the tank 141-. It will thus beseen that by this arrangement, the gas may be causedto pass into or outof the bag through the pipe 22 and'passage 8. p

In order to steer the balloon, there has been provided a horizontalrudder at the forward end of the center beam 3 and a horizontal rudderand a vertical rudder at The forward rudder is provided with upper andlower planes or wings 23 which are connected by struts 24c and braced'bythe braces 25. Certain of these braces 25 are at the ends of the planesor wings 23 and others are adjacent the center as shown in Fig. 7. Froman inspection of Fig. 7, it willbe seen that clamp sections 26 areconnected with the center braces and secured together about the forwardend portion of the beam. By having the mounting clamp of the forwardrudder positioned in the seat 27 adjacent the forward end of the beam 3,the rudder may remain in a horizontal position under ordinarycircumstances. 4 This rudder is pivotally mounted by means of the bolts28 which connect the clamp sections 26 with the center braces 25 andsteering wires 29 and 30 are connected with the arms 31 and 32 carriedby the wheels 33 mounted upon the steering shaft 34:. This steeringshaft 34 is provided with one or more hand wheels 35 so that the shaft 31 may be rotated when it is desired to tilt the forward rudder.

The rear horizontal rudders or stabilizers 36 are pivotally connectedwith a yoke-bar 37 which is secured in the seat 38 adjacent the rearends of the center beam 3 by means of a clamp 39 as shown in Fig. 8.These rudders 36 are provided with the usual horns L0 and steering linesor wires 41 and 42 are connected with these horns and after being passedthrough guides 13 carried by the yoke 37 are connected with the endportions of the bars 1 1 carried by the steering shaft 45. This steeringshaft 15 is provided with a turning handle d6 which extends between theseats 17 so that either driver may readily reach this handle or lever426 to turn the steering shaft d5 and thus operate the rudders 36.

The vertical rudder 18 is pivotally mounted upon a Ushaped bracket {l9which has one arm carried by the clamp 39 of the yoke 37 and: has itssecond arm carried by the clamp of the yoke 12. The usual horns 5Oextend'from this rudder 48' andjare engaged by the steering lines orwires 51 which can tend through guides 52 and are carried downwardlyover the guides 53 and beneath the body of the car. These steering wiresare connected with the end portions of the bar 5 1 which is rigidlysecured upon the lower end of the post 55 of the rudder bar 56. Thisrudder bar 56 is mounted in the floor of the car as shown in Figs. 3 and6 and is positioned in front of the seats 4:7 so that it may be readilyoperated by the drivers.

When this balloon is. in use, the bag will be filled with a suitable gasandwhen released, will be carried up into the air. With the motorstarted, the dirigible balloon will be moved forwardly. By having thecar hung from the center beam and the forward and rear rudders mountedloosely upon this beam, the car can at all times hangin a horizontalposition and there will be no danger of the car being tiltedtransversely when the gas bag is struck'by a heavy wind andblown'side-ways. When itis desired to reach a higher altitude or desiredto make a landing,the steering shaft will be rotated to actuate theforward and rear horizontal rudders so that the nose of the balloon willbe tilted in the proper direction. lVhen the balloon is moving upwardlyor downwardly at an incline, the car will still remain in a horizontalaosition since'thehan 'er rods 10 and 11 extend in crossed relation. Itis often necessary 1n making a landing to let a certain amount of thegas out of the bag and it isfurther' often necessary to release aportion of the gas when the balloon reaches a certain altitude.Ordinarily a valve is opened and the gas escapes into the atmosphere andis lost; This loss of gaswhich is very expensive is overcome in thepresent balloon since the gas which is to be released from the bag isdrawn through the pipe 22 by means of the pump and then forced into thereservoir tank l l. After a balloon has been at a high altitude and isbrought down, it is necessary to replenish the gas. l Vhen this isnecessary, the valve of the pipe 15 is opened ant gas in the reservoircan pass through the pipe 22 into the gas bag. It will thus be seen thatthere has been provided a dirigible balloon in which gas can be fed intothe bag from a eservoir and when desired, gas withdrawn from the bagthrough the same pipe used in feeding the gas into the bag and this gaspumped into the reservoir tank sothat it is not wasted. It will befurther noted that there has been provided a dirigible balloon in whichthe car will be suspended beneath the gas bag in very efficient mannerand will remain in a horizontal position. It will further be noted thatthere has been provided improved means for mounting the horizontal andvertical rudders and improved actuating means for these rudders.

I claim:

1. A dirigible balloon comprising a gas bag, a beam extending throughsaid bag, yolres loosely mounted upon said beam in front of and to therear of said bag, a car beneath said bag, and hanger rods looselyconnected with the forward and rear end portions of said car andextending upwardly in crossed relation and loosely con- .iectedwith saidyolres.

2. A dirigible balloon comprising a gas bag, a beam extendinglongitudinally through the bag, supports loosely connected with the beamin front of and to the rear of said bag and extending transversely ofthe beam, a car beneath the bag, and hanger means loosely connected withthe car and extending upwardly in crossed relation and connected withthe supports.

3. A dirigible balloon comprising a gas bag, a car beneath said bag,supports extending transversely of the bag and loosely mounted adjacentthe ends thereof, and hanger means connected with the end portions ofthe car and extending upwardly in crossed relation and connected withthe supports.

at. A dirigible balloon comprising a gas bag, a beam extending throughsaid bag and at one end provided witha passage leading from the interiorof the bag to a point exteriorly of the bag, a car suspended beneath thebag from said beam, a gas reservoir carried by said car, a pump, a valvecontrolled pipe connecting the pump and reservoir, a valve controlledoutlet pipe leading from said reservoir, a valve controlled inlet pipefor said pump, and a pipe leading from the gas passage of the beam andconnected with the inlet pipe of the pump and outlet pipe of thereservoir.

5. A dirigible balloon comprising a gas bag, a beam extendinglongitudinally through the gas bag and beyond the ends thereof, a carsuspended beneath the bag from said beam, a horizontal rudder adjacentthe forward end of said beam and having upper and lower planes, supportsconnecting said planes, a bearing loosely mounted upon said beam andconnectedl with certain of said supports to pivotally mount the rudder,and actuating means upon said car connected with the rudder.

6. A dirigible balloon comprising a gas bag, a beam extendinglongitudinally through the gas bag and beyond the ends thereof, yokesloosely mounted upon the end portions of said beam, a car suspendedbeneath the bag from said yokes, a front rudder, means pivotallyconnected with the rudder to mount the rudder for vertical tiltingmovement, said means being mounted upon the beam for turning movementthereon, and actuating means upon said car connected with the rudder forimparting tilting movement to the same.

7. A dirigible balloon comprising-a gas bag, a beam extendinglongitudinally through the gas bag and-beyond the ends thereof, yokesloosely mounted upon the end portions of said beam, a car suspendedbeneath the bag from said yokes, an additional yoke upon the rear endportion of said beam, a U-shaped bracket carried by and extending abovethe yokes upon the rear end portion of said beam, horizontal rudderscarried by the last mentioned yoke, a vertical rudder carried by saidbracket, and actuating means for the rudders carried by the car andconnected with the rudders.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JESSE W. GILBERT.

